‘The Walking Dead’s Nadia Hilker Teases Magna’s “Dark” and Seedy Backstory

The Walking Dead newcomer Nadia Hilker hopes to unfold Magna’s “dark” past and history as a once prisoner-turned-pack leader in the zombie apocalypse.

“I don’t know, I really hope so. I really hope so,” Hilker said at Walker Stalker Con New Jersey when asked about The Walking Dead unveiling details surrounding Magna’s incarceration.

“Because even myself, I don’t know — I mean, I kind of have a sense of what went down — but it’s pretty much on the writers whether they want to give me that backstory. But fingers crossed, right? I think we all should find out.”

Added Hilker’s co-star and fellow panelist Dan Fogler, who plays former music teacher Luke, “I think that’s its own movie. Just, ‘Magna!’ And you in prison. That’d be awesome.”

“I think it’s dark,” Hilker said. “I hope so, fingers crossed, yeah.”

Magna’s past was hinted at in 906, “Who Are You Now?,” when guarded Alexandrian leader and head of security Michonne (Danai Gurira) exposed tattoos that indicated Magna is an ex-con — a detail she neglected to disclose when appearing before Alexandria’s council.

“I would want Magna to like me and probably try to impress her with no success. She’s an unpredictable animal — dangerous but also caring,” Hilker previously told EW of her mysterious character, who serves as de facto chief to her tight-knit group of survivors: girlfriend Yumiko (Eleanor Matsuura), Luke, and sisters Connie (Lauren Ridloff) and Kelly (Angel Theory).

“No one should ever feel too comfortable around her, nor believe they figured her out. She loves her people and would, without a doubt, do anything for her group. Yumiko brings more a motherly type of energy to the group and Magna more fatherly.”

Even as Magna emerges as a leader in her own right, its not a title the former truck stop waitress would claim.

“I think for now, and it’s very early on, I don’t think that Magna wants to be a leader. Which doesn’t mean that she wouldn’t be a good one, but I don’t think she would be the one that enjoys telling people how to do things and what to do,” Hilker said.

“I think she wants to take care of everyone. And I think she wants to help everyone as much as she can, but I think she has a hard time doing that because she doesn’t really know how. She’s just not good at showing love, I think. Even though she does.”

Magna and Yumiko were last seen helping rescue Eugene (Josh McDermitt) alongside Michonne, Daryl (Norman Reedus) and Aaron (Ross Marquand) in a fog-covered graveyard, lending a much-needed assist in the first battle against new enemy group the Whisperers, who have already claimed Jesus (Tom Payne) as their victim.

The Walking Dead returns Sunday, February 10.